Singapore'S Retail Sales Fell For the 2nd Straight Month, Dipping 2.9% In December

In December, Singapore's retail sales declined by 2.9% year-on-year, continuing the revised 0.5% decrease in the previous month.

The December figures were lower than the estimates of private-sector economists. In a Bloomberg poll, they had anticipated that retail sales would increase by 1% y-o-y.

Data released by the Department of Statistics (SingStat) on Wednesday (Feb 5) indicated that, on a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, retail sales dropped by 1.5%, following November's 2.8% decline.

In December, the total retail sales in Singapore amounted to S$4.6 billion. Online sales made up 13.4% of the total, as opposed to the 14.7% registered in November.

When motor vehicles were excluded, retail sales decreased by 4% compared to the same period last year. On a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, there was a sequential decline of 3.5%.

In December, nine out of fourteen retail sales categories witnessed year-on-year decreases. Computer and telecommunications equipment had the largest decline of 13.1%, while food and alcohol had the largest increase of 9.4%.

On a seasonally-adjusted month-on-month basis, sales in 10 of the categories decreased. Wearing apparel and footwear had the largest sequential drop of 11.6%, while motor vehicles had the largest sequential increase of 13.2%.

The sales of food and beverage (F&B) services increased by 1% y-o-y, which was less than the 4% growth in November. On a monthly seasonally - adjusted basis, it decreased by 2.2%, compared to the 1.8% decline in the previous month.

Over the course of the year, growth was seen in restaurants (0.2%), fast-food outlets (1.4%), and food caterers (16.7%). The only category that declined was cafes, food courts, and other eating places, with a 2.7% fall.

On a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, only fast food outlets saw a growth of 0.8%. The other segments registered declines: restaurants (- 1.5%); food caterers (- 3.3%); and cafes, food courts and other eating places (- 3.7%).

The receipts from F&B services totaled S$1 billion, with online sales estimated to account for 24.8% of this amount.